Zen Magnets Stands Up to Abusive Government Agency

Image: Ari Armstrong

Shihan Qu, owner of Denver-based Zen Magnets, is a modern-day hero of liberty. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has waged a relentless campaign to put sellers of super-magnet educational products out of business, but Qu is fighting back. He told Brian Doherty of Reason magazine:

[CPSC needs] . . . to be reminded of the standard of liberty in this country. . . .

CPSC is arguing that warnings don’t work, which has incredibly vast policy implications. . . . Warnings are a sort of agreement a customer accepts upon use of a product. And by assuming that people cannot follow . . . instructions to keep magnets away from children and mouths, they are assuming the American Population is not capable of deciding for themselves. They are taking your right to consent, and fleecing your freedom to do as you will.

We’re the last line of defense, and if Zen Magnets doesn’t stand up, the CPSC gains a remarkable amount of power from consumers. . . .

The government has already shut down Buckyballs, another (former) seller of the magnets, and now it is forcing a recall; see the New York Timesreport. See also my previous posts on the subject for the Objective Standard: